A vehicle seat or a vehicle bench seat has a seat part and a backrest part. The seat part generally defines a horizontal seat section having a seat surface, in order to carry a vehicle occupant. The backrest part generally defines a vertical seat section having a backrest surface, in order to support the back of an occupant. The backrest parts are generally adjustable in the inclination in relation to the seat part by an inclination adjustment unit, in order to be able to adapt the vehicle seat or the vehicle bench seat to the anatomy of the occupants.
It is generally known that joint fittings are used to adjust the inclination of the backrest part, which have a fixed joint component assigned to the seat part and a pivotable joint component assigned to the backrest part. The fixed joint component and the pivotable joint component are connected to one another via a pivot axis. The pivot axis of the joint fitting arranged on a seat longitudinal side is typically coupled to the joint fitting arranged on the opposing seat longitudinal side via a backrest adjustment shaft, which transmits a torque of one joint fitting to the other joint fitting.
In order to adjust and lock the location of the fixed joint component and the pivotable joint component to one another, an adjustment and fixing device is provided. This is typically actuated by hand and has an actuating lever or a hand wheel for this purpose on the outer seat longitudinal side. The actuating lever or the hand wheel disengages a fixing of the backrest adjustment shaft, whereby the backrest part can be pivoted.
The arrangement of the actuating levers or hand wheels requires space, the space requirements competing with those of other functional parts of the vehicle in the area of the outer seat longitudinal side. Components in the lateral area are, for example, storage compartments or protective devices, such as side airbags, which are arranged on the vehicle side walls or vehicle doors. In order to ensure improved personal protection of the vehicle occupants, efforts have been made to provide the largest possible structural space for the lateral impact protection. At a predefined vehicle width, the problem that exists that the distance of the seat longitudinal side to the vehicle side wall or vehicle door is restricted increasingly strongly, whereby comfortable actuation of the levers or hand wheels is made increasingly more difficult.
It is at least one object to provide a backrest adjustment device for a vehicle seat or a vehicle bench seat, in particular for a motor vehicle seat or a motor vehicle bench seat, which, on the one hand, does not more strongly restrict the structural width of the vehicle seat and, on the other hand, is easily producible. In addition, at least one object is to provide a backrest part for a vehicle seat or a vehicle bench seat, in particular for a motor vehicle seat or a motor vehicle bench seat, which, on the one hand, has a small structural width and, on the other hand, is easily producible. Furthermore, at least another object of providing a motor vehicle seat for a motor vehicle bench seat, which, on the one hand, has a small structural width and, on the other hand, is easily producible. Moreover, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.